In a hydraulic excavator included in a work machine, in the case where an excavation operation (for example, arm crowding operation) is input from the operator via an operation lever, a boom raising operation is forcibly added by a computer (controller) in accordance with the distance between the forward end of a front work implement and a previously set target surface, whereby the operational range of the front work implement is limited to the target surface or a region above the same. This control is sometimes referred to as an area limiting control, operation limiting control, or machine control.
To prevent an abrupt operation in boom raising due to the area limiting control (operation limiting control) in the case where the target surface (design surface) is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction by a predetermined angle or more, Patent Document 1, for example, discloses a technique in which in the case where the target surface (design surface) is a slope inclined with respect to the horizontal direction by a predetermined angle or more, an operation limiting section performs control such that an area limiting control (operation limiting control) is not executed, whereby it is possible to prevent an abrupt operation of the boom in the case where the target surface (design surface) is a steep slope.